I went to India for a month and a bit a few years ago.... and I wrote a research paper about how food can be a springboard for relationship building, despite language and cultural difference. A shared meal is a way to build a third identity between two individuals. I met a lot of people and cooked a lot of food and ate the most flavourful flavours. One of my favourite memories (outside of the spice markets OMG) was coming across the brilliance of the tiffin lunch delivery and return system in Mumbai: not only a wonderful word, but an ingenious vessel for transporting delicious dal; rice; fresh veg; rich curries; squeaky, toothsome palak paneer; boldly spicy channa masala.....pakora.....ah, the list goes on. And beautiful ghee-glazed flatbread....never forget the flatbread. These little silvery buckets sway and jingle, strung off the back of a well-loved bicycle, dodging and weaving through heavy tuk tuk traffic. Dabbawallas ride their bikes with smooth urgency to successfully deliver hot lunches from homes and restaurants to people at work :) Magic. Magic. Magic.